Discover the obscure sports of past Olympics, Montreal's financial strain, a tragic incident at Seoul's opening ceremony, and a twist on future Olympic hosting locations.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Walk-On Olympians
In 1896, two Harvard brothers on holiday won the pistol competition at the Athens Games.
They simply showed up with their pistols and participated, highlighting the casual nature of early Olympics.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Unusual 1900 Games
The 1900 Paris Olympics featured unusual events like firefighting and obstacle swimming.
Firefighting involved extinguishing a lit house and performing a fake rescue.
insights INSIGHT
Unofficial Olympics
The 1900 Olympics were not initially recognized officially until 80 years later.
They were part of the World's Fair, and some viewed the Olympics as a strange cult.
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From TV commercials and branded soda cans to Emily in Paris spon-con, the Olympics are once again everywhere. In the Olympic spirit, we’re bringing you four stories about the games in all their international, theatrical glory.
In the first story, Christopher Johnson introduces the obscure, non-traditional sports from a forgotten part of Olympic history. The second story, by Chris Berube, offers a glimpse into the financial strain brought about by Montreal’s host venue for the 1976 games. In Vivian Le’s third story, the opening ceremony for Seoul’s 1988 Olympics begins on an unfortunate note. The final story, by Avery Trufelman, proposes a twist on the traditional Olympic host-country format.
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